Wednesday, 28 October 2015

NNPC to cut crude deals to boost transparency and hit corruption

Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC started auctioning annual crude grades on live television on Tuesday and vowed to cut contract holders by a third as part of a drive to boost transparency at an institution hit by corruption.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected in March on a campaign to "fix" Africa's biggest economy, has vowed to end graft at NNPC where billions of dollars were not remitted to state coffers in the past.

An NNPC official told the auction that the current number of 43 contract holders would be reduced by at least a third so that companies could be sure they will get oil.

"This is not business as usual. This is going to be different," he said. Previously, tenders were published in newspapers.